1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to modifying an image for display using differential weighting.
2. Description of the Related Art
This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present invention, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present invention. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
Digital imaging and digital image processing techniques are increasingly common. For example, the commercial availability of digital cameras as well as the wide-spread dissemination of digital images over the Internet and by e-mail make digital images, such as photographs, a common feature of daily life. As a consequence of the presence of these digital images, it is also increasingly common for individuals to wish to enhance or modify such images to improve the appearance of an image or a part of an image.
For example, a viewer may wish to brighten a digital image or to increase the contrast of a digital image. Typically such image modifications affect the image uniformly, thereby modifying portions of the image that may need enhancement, but also modifying portions that do not need the enhancement. Further, to the extent that such modifications may be applied to only a portion of the image, the same problem may arise with regard to the modified portion. That is, some areas within the portion may be enhanced even though these areas do not need to be enhanced. For example, when wishing to brighten the face of an individual in a digital photograph, the areas surrounding the face may also be brightened due to the area effect of the tools, such as brushes, used to apply the enhancement. To address this difficulty, it may be necessary to use a finer tool or brush with a reduced area effect. However this approach is usually labor intensive, requiring a user to painstakingly modify only those portions of the image where the enhancement is desired without inadvertently straying into areas of the image where enhancement is not desired. Thus, it may not be possible to easily enhance selected portions of an image without also enhancing portions that do not need enhancement.